Faith No More created a stylistic
hybrid that was both inventive, dynamic, driving and catchy.
We Care A Lot (1985) attempted a fusion/fission of genres that were
virtually in opposition, such as punk-rock, funk, progressive-rock, hip-hop,
heavy-metal, music-hall. The fearsome trio of keyboardist Roddy Bottum,
vocalist Chuck Mosley and guitarist Jim Martin perfected their counterpoint
on Introduce Yourself (1987), a cauldron of memorable riffs,
anthemic melodies, eccentric sound effects, elaborate scores, fiery
electronic sounds. The group shone across a repertoire that ran the gamut from
naive and romantic to cold and symphonic.
Mr Bungle's vocalist Michael Patton took the helm of the band on
Real Thing (1989), which didn't change direction at all, despite
increased mainstream appeal. The same balance of antipodal elements
(of gloom and lightness, of ethereal and aggressive) propelled the
versatile songs of Angel Dust (1992).
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What Is Not To Love (Slash, 1998) is even more subdued and melodic,
and perhaps a bit too predictable.
The single Yoo Hoo borrows the riff from
Velvet Underground's Waiting For My Man.
On (Merge, 2002) is a divertissment of joyful and harmless dance-pop
a` la B52's
(Ivanka, Baby, Undone).

After the artistic flop of King For A Day, Faith No More attempted a last
desperate ditch to keep making sense. Unfortunately,
Album Of The Year (Warner, 1997) showed only their weak points.
Unredeemed by the faceless grunge of Collision, by the
progressive-rock of Last Cup Of Sorrow, and by the
demented funk-metal of Mouth To Mouth,
and generally embarassed by trivial songwriting (Ashes To Ashes,
Got That Feeling),
the band called it quits.

Pranzo Oltranzista (Tzadik, 1997)
is the first album credited to Mike Patton, and it is a 30-minute tribute to
the founder of Futurism, Marinetti, with help from the likes of
Marc Ribot and John Zorn.

California (Warner Bros, 1999), the third Mr Bungle album,
is another chaotic assembly of semiotic signs, except that this time they
are funneled through well-structured (and catchy) songs.
Sweet Charity lines up western soundtracks, cocktail jazz, exotica,
tv themes, operatic singing and doo-wop vocalizing in the parodistic style of
early Frank Zappa.
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, that romps through a rapid-fire procession
of vocal styles of the 1950s and 1960s, is virtually another homage to Zappa.
None Of Them Knew They Were Robots is a swing novelty in the vein of
Brian Setzer
with dancing organ, cartoonish sound effects, roaring standup bass,
feisty horns and an ever changing breakneck rhythm.
Ars Moriendi is a comic rendesvouz of ethnic folk styles played
with grindcore intensity.
The avantgarde cut-up techniques that Patton has learned from the likes of
Frank Zappa and John Zorn have been coerced into a virtuoso compositional
science of shifting tempos and derivative arrangements.
Layers of studio treachery disorient the listener, and the melody is often
like a moving target, but ultimately everything makes sense, and what was
raw creative exuberance on Mr Bungle has now evolved into a
refined musical language.
But the joke wears thin after the fifth song. A couple of more experimental
pieces,
Spruance's Golem II (a hybrid of Kraftwerk, George Clinton and Phish) and
Patton's Goodbye Sober Day (a confused merry-go-round of ethnic and
heavy-metal sounds),
are not enough to provide a viable exit strategy for the concept.

For Fantomas' The Director's Cut (Ipecac, 2001),
Patton recruited Dave Lombardo (Slayer),
Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle) and
Buzz Osborne (Melvins):
what a waste. All they can do is parody 16 tv and movie soundtracks.

Mike Patton has also recorded with Ikue Mori and John Zorn the album
Hemophiliac (Tzadik, 2002). The trio of sax, voice and computer
improvises with the fury of Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Sharrock.

Millennium Monsterwork 2000 (Ipecac, 2002) documents a live performance
by Melvins and Fantomas.

Secret Chiefs 3 is an instrumental offshoot of Mr Bungle led by Trey Spruance.
First Grand Constitution and Bylaws (Web Of Mimicry, 1998),
Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws (Web Of Mimicry, 1999),
Eyes of Flash Eyes of Flame (Web Of Mimicry, 2000),
and Book M (Web Of Mimicry, 2001) mix Middle Eastern and Indian music,
Ennio Morricone's soundtracks and dance beats.
Book of Horizons (Web of Mimicry, 2004) evokes suspense-filled
James Bond movies (The End Times),
Ennio Morricone's melancholy themes (The Exile, absolutely worthy of
the master's repertory, and Book T Exodus),
swirling Middle-eastern dances (The 4, The 3),
apocalyptic grindcore (Exterminating Angel, Hypostasis Of The Archons),
Frank Zappa-esque orchestral music (The Owl In Daylight, DJ Revisionist),
and even circus music
(Welcome To The Theatron Animatronique).

Mr Bungle's guitarist Trey Spruance
is also active in Asva with
guitarist John Schuller,
bassist Stuart Dahlquist,
Burning Witch's drummer,
vocalist Jessika Kenney and an organist:
Futurist's Against the Ocean (Web of Mimicry, 2005) contains four lengthy doom/droning tracks a` la Earth.
What You Don't Know Is Frontier (Southern, 2008), featuring
a new vocalist (Holly Johnson), a new guitarist and a new organist
(Troy Swanson),
is an even denser
drone-fest
for vocals, guitars, percussions, keyboards and wind instruments.

Fantomas'
Delerium Cordia (Ipecac, 2004) is a 74-minute chamber concerto for
rock band, vocalist and electronics that ranges from gentle to bombastic, from harrowing to demented, from cacophonous to delirious, its sculpting of
ambience inspired by progressive-rock, glitch electronica, post-rock
and dark metal (and perhaps decades of cinematic soundtracks).
The suite opens in an atmosphere of suspense with gothic overtones: ghostly
sounds, monk-like chanting, massive riffs.
But then a mad musique-concrete collage of voices, noises and instruments
sends the whole concept spinning into a post-psychedelic dimension.
At 40 minutes a strong wind sweeps all the music away. More musique-concrete
passages ensue, with a brief reference to Karlheinz Stockhausen's Hymnen.
Then Fantomas turns to "deep listening" music, although its form of
minimalism is constantly in motion. Sonic events keep happening even though
little seems to be changing, whether cadaveric whispers or rain and birds
in the woods or vehement guitar riffs. The last nine minutes are virtually
silence.
Alas, such an ambitious concept lacks focus and cohesion.
It is the atonal equivalent of a melodic fantasy
but too often it sounds like a casual collection of musical ideas rather than an organic
piece of composition/improvisation. It is both pretentious and visionary, but
also self-indulgent (there are almost 20 minutes total of near silence).
Pared down to a 15-minute suite, this would have been a classic of a new genre.
At 74 minutes, this is yet another manifestation of the borderless ego of
musicians who live in the age of cheap CD manufacturing.

Romances (Ipecac, 2004) is a collaboration between
Mike Patton and Kaada.

Fantomas' Suspended Animation (Ipecac, 2005) returned to the
cartoonish-thrash Raymond Scott-ian format of Fantomas' debut.
Reneging on its predecessor's monster suite (but actually recorded at the
same time), their fourth album was convoluted,
hysterical and (mainly) fragmented (most tracks lasting about one minute).
Basically, the supergroup (Patton, Slayer's Dave Lombardo,
the Melvins' Buzz Osbourne, Mr Bungle's Trevor Dunn) moved from one ambitious
project (the super-extended suite) to another ambitious project (the
super-frantic collage). Neither was fully satisfying, although both prove
Patton's stature as a composer, leader and vocalist.

General Patton vs The X-ecutioners (2005) is a collaboration with
DJ crew X-Excutioners.

Mike Patton took a holiday from his experimental projects to deliver the
mildly entertaining Peeping Tom (Ipecac, 2006), a collection of
pop songs wrapped in electronic garments that are more typical of hip-hop music than of hard-rock. While one or two numbers are catchy
(Moho, Don't Even Trip), most of the album wants to rely too much on Patton's lyrics
(gasp) and on his vocals.

Since 2001 Trevor Dunn plays contrabass in a New York-based duo with Stars Like Fleas' harpist Shelley Burgon.
They recorded At Blim (2005) with koto player Brett Larner.
Baltimore (Skirt, 2006) is a collection of harp and bass duets
that belong to the realm of dissonant and improvised chamber music.
They mostly sound like Keith Rowe or
Fred Frith toying with other instruments
rather than the usual guitar.
Except that they occasionally pick up rhythm, in which case they sound
more like a distorted, cacophonous version of the
Penguin Cafè Orchestra.
Shelley Burgon comes through as one of the most original harp improvisers
since Zeena Parkins and Carol Emanuel, and one with a vast range of sound,
from abstract noise to jazzy counterpoint.

Mike Patton also scored the soundtrack for the films
Crank High Voltage (Lakeshore, 2009) and Solitude of Prime Numbers (Ipecac, 2011).

Imperial Teen continued to reunite and record although at longer and longer
intervals:
The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band (2007) contains It's Now
and little else.
Feel the Sound (2012) contains a couple of decent songs
(Runaway and Last to Know) that would have made for a decent single,
but instead melt down in an awful album.

Mike Patton came up with his most delirious project when he decided to remake
Italian pop songs backed by a symphonic orchestra and a choir on
Mondo Cane (2010), one of the most bizarre cover albums of all times.
Another Italian-themed work,
The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2011) was the score to a film adaptation
of Paolo Giordano's novel.